


Body Parts For Spells

by withinmelove



Category: Howl no Ugoku Shiro | Howl's Moving Castle, Howl's Moving Castle - All Media Types
Genre: Cannibalism, Fantasy, Gen, Long Live Feedback Comment Project, Magic, Mild Gore, Studio Ghibli, Wizards
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-29
Updated: 2020-03-29
Packaged: 2021-02-28 23:27:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 851
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23355412
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/withinmelove/pseuds/withinmelove
Summary: Howl's uncle educates his nephew in how powerful hearts and other body parts can be for witches and wizards.
Relationships: Calcifer & Howl Pendragon
Comments: 1
Kudos: 17
Collections: Discord Community Archive





	Body Parts For Spells

**Author's Note:**

  * For [setepenre_set](https://archiveofourown.org/users/setepenre_set/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Hearts and Their Consumption](https://archiveofourown.org/works/5812873) by [setepenre_set](https://archiveofourown.org/users/setepenre_set/pseuds/setepenre_set). 



> Okay. This fic's plot was entirely inspired by _Hearts and Their Consumption_ which I have linked to. Without that fic this one wouldn't exist. I'm more exploring why Howl eats hearts and how eating various body parts influences and/or helps witches and wizards in this universe.
> 
> Thank you setepenre_set for writing your fic! :D

Howl’s a talented wizard--brilliant, even. It’s because of this ease, the casual drawing-upon of power, that he is dangerous. The worst part is that it’s all natural to him. There is no realization that he can be a menace if he so chooses. Thankfully, and sadly, Howl is used to being alone. He has grown up alone under the wing of his powerful uncle. It’s not to say his uncle was cruel or abusive; rather that he was a busy, formidable wizard, and as such he was always in attendance to the King and to Madame Solomon. It was through his uncle that Howl became acquainted with Madame Solomon and transferred into her tutelage when he came of age. 

People assume Howl started eating hearts _after_ he consumed Calcifer in order to make their pact. No. Howl had learned to eat hearts from his uncle, the almost-father he never had. 

The first lesson Uncle had taught him is that there’s power to be found in hearts. Raw, animal, inexhaustive potency void of emotions. It is brains that are the parts to be very careful about eating. They are steeped in the fickleness of feelings, of the drama of that creature’s life. Human brains can be stupefying. Mind-altering. His uncle had once shown Howl a witch who’d only eaten brains. She had been a medium and found that such passion-infused flesh heightened her connection. 

Up until the day the dam broke her own separation of self, her consciousness subsumed by all the others she had collected within herself. Tormented and torn between the collective memories and emotions of too many psyches held within, she had gone into self-imposed isolation.

Howl and his uncle visit her one day. A surprise to find she’s a slender blonde woman who, at first glance, comes across as sweetly friendly.

“Hello, visitors! Uncle, a pleasure to see you again,” she chirps brightly. Howl glances questioningly at his uncle, who only grins and accepts her hug. He’s taken aback when she pulls away from the hug to look over at him with _tears_ gleaming in her eyes.

“Uncle, how sweet! This is Howl, yes? He’s grown up so fast. Time never slows down, does it?” 

Once again, Uncle rolls with this change in mood with no issue. At this point, Howl is completely lost as to how this woman knows him or how to keep up with what’s going on.

“Howl, it’s lovely to meet you! I’m Olive. I knew you as a baby. You were absolutely bursting with magic. It was amazing to see!” she exclaims, whirling away into her house and beckoning them after her. They follow her into a cozy, cluttered living room where four cats of varying colors lounge. Two black cats sleep soundly by the window in the sun. A third cat who is orange is trailing after Olive, meowing in response to her cooed questions to them. The fourth cat Howl notices is perched on a shelf in the corner of the room. 

“Excuse me for not cleaning up.” 

Quickly, Howl sees the internal chaos raging within as for the next hour she bounces rapidly between smiles, crying, and irrational anger at them. The visit serves its purpose. No eating brains.

Lungs are fine for buoyancy spells, but they must be fresh or otherwise the spell goes flat. The crinkle of fresh lungs is the sound of a good purchase, he comes to discover. 

Certainly, Howl doesn’t limit himself to the hearts of only beautiful women. They are his preference however, but not his only choice. Hearts from those who are perceived and see themselves as beautiful give him both power and a pleasant mood boost. Any heart will do in a pinch when the cravings start, though. 

Uncle had informed him, when he was nine and the cravings first started, that it was natural for wizards and witches to need such grotesque substances in order to live. It was their magic from within devouring more energy than what they could feed it from their bodily reserves alone. Much like vampires, those born into magic must feed this second life force that sustains them. Their people had discovered eating those creatures most like themselves was much more nourishing then anything else. Each person had their particular preference for organs, and Howl’s was hearts. 

He was well used to his routine by the time he caught Calcifer. In fact, Calcifer only added fuel to the hearts. A fire demon, Howl discovers, is the perfect mix to give even more intensity to the hearts he eats. It was Uncle’s wife who had casually told him that to eat a star’s heart was to gain immortality, but only if they fell in mortal form. Many stars chose to fall in their natural forms and die, versus taking on a mortal body and living. Howl had gotten lucky that Calcifer had retained his form and still wanted to live on. A neat trade-off: Howl’s heart for Calcifer’s life and power. 

The taste of blood has always been entwined with magic and power on Howl’s tongue.

**Author's Note:**

> I've always wanted to write for Howl's Moving Castle and Spirited Away but never could quite grasp a plot to write for. Thankfully someone else sparked me to finally write for one of those movies lol. 
> 
> Sable my beta helped me with all these commas because they don't exist in my mind.
> 
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